Lady Pacers earn first ever ORVC conference championship in swimming

The Ohio River Valley Conference has held a conference swim meet for five years — but when the meet concluded on Tuesday, January 15th, for the first time in school history, Switzerland County had earned the conference championship.

The Ohio River Valley Conference has held a conference swim meet for five years — but when the meet concluded on Tuesday, January 15th, for the first time in school history, Switzerland County had earned the conference championship.

After winter weather delayed the meet from Saturday, January 12th until Tuesday, the event, hosted by Milan High School, was filled with a lot of anticipation by a Pacer swim team that had dominated competition throughout the season.

In the girls conference, Switzerland County won with a team score of 293; followed by second place Southwestern with 265; South Ripley with 216 and Milan with 199.

The meet also saw five different Lady Pacer swimmers earn All Conference honors by winning their event:

• Zoe Cole was All Conference in the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay.

• Allison Furnish was All Conference individually in the 100-yard breaststroke; and as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

• Abigail Niswander was All Conference individually in the 50-yard freestyle; and as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

• Abigail Cole was All Conference in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

• Alisha Detmer was All Conference in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

“ One senior, two juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman were named to the All Conference team,” Pacer head coach Eric Cole said. “This bodes well for the future of Switzerland County swimming.”

Members of the conference championship Lady Pacer team are: Zoe Cole, Ally Furnish, Abigail Niswander, Abigail Cole, Brooke Johnson, Josie Stogsdill, Aalyiah Ridener, Alisha Detmer, and Anastasia Faddies. Coach Cole said that everyone contributed and played a critical role in the victory.

Results of the girls meet included:

• Abigail Niswander won the 50-yard freestyle in a time of :27.03; and Abigail Cole was third in a time of :31.68.

• Allison Furnish won the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:17.14; and Josie Stogsdill finished eighth in a time of 1:46.03.

• The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Abigail Niswander, Alisha Detmer, Zoe Cole, and Allison Furnish won their event in a time of 1:55.81.

• The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Zoe Cole, Abigail Cole, Abigail Niswander, and Allison Furnish won their event in a time of 4:10.77.

• In the 200-yard intermediate medley, Allison Furnish was second in a time of 2:34.42; and Josie Stogsdill was seventh in a time of 3:55.48.

• In the 200-yard freestyle: Zoe Cole was second in a time of 2:22.28; and Brooke Johnson was fourth in a time of 2:51.11.

• In the 100-yard freestyle: Zoe Cole was second in a time of 1:01.68; and Abigail Niswander was third in a time of 1:02.69.

• Abigail Cole was second in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 7:00.75; Anastasia Faddis was fourth in a time of 7:57.73; and Aaliyah Ridener was fourth in a time of 8:29.72.

• The 200-yard medley relay team of Brooke Johnson, Abigail Cole, Anastasia Faddis, and Alisha Detmer was third in a time of 2:36.72.

• In the 100-yard butterfly: Anastasia Faddis was third in a time of 1:33.32; and Aaliyah Ridener was fourth in a time of 1:39.67.

• In the 100-yard backstroke: Brooke Johnson was fourth in a time of 1:29.14; and Alisha Detmer was sixth in a time of 1:33.28.

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The boys title was won by Milan with a team score of 337; followed by Southwestern with 152; Switzerland County with 73; and South Ripley with 19.

Pacer freshman Adrian Armstrong earned All Conference honors by winning the 500-yard freestyle in a school record time of 5:33.25; and he finished second in the 200-yard freestyle, smashing the old school record by three seconds in a time of 1:58.22. Adrian’s win was the only boy to earn a spot on the All Conference team that did not swim for Milan.

Seniors Dalton Faddis and Corey Taulbee each set personal best times in their events.

Results of the boys meet included:

• Adrian Armstrong won the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:23.25.

• Adrian Armstrong was second in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:58.22.

• Corey Taulbee was third in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of :27.72; while Dalton Faddis finished fifth in a time of :32.84.

•Corey Taulbee was fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 1:04.91.

• In the 100-yard backstroke: Dalton Faddis was fourth in a time of 1:27.52.